I have found no Baptist in the Tolkien family!

Carpenter in J. R. R. Tolkien's "Biography" wrote:

"Instead Mabel would have to face hostility from Walter and from other members of her family, not to mention the Tolkiens, many of whom were Baptist and strongly opposed to Catholicism. The strain that this induced, coupled with the additional financial hardship, did no good to her health; but nothing would shake her loyalty to her new faith, and against all opposition she began to instruct Ronald and Hilary in the Catholic religion."

I would change Baptist to Freemason. I have found no one Baptist in the Tolkien family. In this family I have found only Pietist Lutherans, Moravians, Anglicans (Broad Church), Wesleyan Methodists and Calvinistic Methodists!

R. C. Church of the Birmingham Oratory (my photo, 2017)

Looking from the Roman Catholic perspective I can say that Mabel Tolkien saved her sons from non-religious and masonic influences. She paid the price of her life but thanks to her her sons came under blessing influence of the Birmingham Oratory. Thanks God!

Four Freemasons in J.R.R. Tolkien's family

"Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered? Not the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows' sons?"

– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit*

"In Ancient Craft Masonry, the title [widow's son] applied to Hiram, the architect of the Temple, because he is said, in the first Book of Kings (vu, 14) to have been "a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali. (...) The Freemasons call themselves the widow's sons, because, afte the death of our respectable Master, the Freemasons took care of his mother, whose children they called themselves, because Adonhiram had always considered them as his Brethren."

 Masonic Dictionary*

 

I have found four Freemasons among close relatives of J. R. R. Tolkien! They were members of the United Grand Lodge of England: Henry Tolkien, John Benjamin Tolkien, Alfred Tolkien and Frank Neville Tolkien. But remember, J.R.R. Tolkien, unlike his ancestors, was a Roman Catholic and not only hated Freemasonry, but also his faith would not allow him to have anything to do with it.

J.R.R. Tolkien's faith can be found here.

United Grand Lodge of England

Henry Tolkien (1814–1885), great-uncle of J. R. R. Tolkien, brother of his grandfather, John Benjamin Tolkien (1807–1896). He was a music dealer and he had his shop at 28 King William Street, London (more on him at "London Street Views"). He was initiated to the United Grand Lodge of England in the age of 41 on 1 August 1855. He was a member of the Lodge of Confidence (No. 193) in London till 1860. This Lodge was established in 1790 and named in 1820. In 1790 the lodge met at the Dolphin, Red Lion Street, Holborn, London. The lodge moved to many inns and taverns around London (in the times of Henry Tolkien it was Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, London, England) but it now meets at Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street, London.

Henry Tolkien, first known Freemason in the Tolkien family

Henry Tolkien, Freemason 1855–1860

Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street (read here)

John Benjamin Tolkien (1845–1883), J. R. R. Tolkien's half-uncle, half-brother of Arthur Tolkien. He was a music dealer in Birmingham, a tuner, a newspaper reporter and a composer. From 21 March 1871 (when he was initiated) to 1881 he was a member (Senior Warden) of the Lodge of Perseverance (No. 573) in Halesowen, Worcester (in the times of John Benjamin Tolkien it was in the Shenstone Hotel in Halesowen). I have found an interesting information in The Freemason's Chronicle (17 April 1875, p. 247). It suggests that John Benjamin Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien's grandfather (Arthur Tolkien's father) from Music Warehouse at 87 New Street, Birmingham published his son's ("Brother John Tolkien S.W. 573") "United Ever – New Masonic Song" dedicated to M. W. Provincial Grand Masters of Warwickshire and Worcestershire. As we can see the family of J. R. R. Tolkien's father was Freemason-inclined (Professor's grandfather had a Freemason brother and son!).

John Benjamin Tolkien, Freemason 1771–1881

A.[lfred] Tolkien – we know him from The Freemason's Chronicle, v. 43-44, 1896, p. 72 which records the presence of a Tolkien along with several other Brothers at the sports day of Hertford County College. "A. Tolkien" means probably Alfred Tolkien (1831-1904), a younger brother of J. R. R. Tolkien's grandfather and a professor of music. His lodge could be Belgrave Lodge No. 749.

The Freemason, April 30, 1887, s. 9

Frank Neville Tolkien (1884–1966), an engineer from Castleton, son of Henry Alfred Tolkien, grandson of Septimus Tolkien who was J. R. R. Tolkien's grandfather's younger brother. So Frank Neville Tolkien was J. R. R. Tolkiens distant cousin. His date of initiation was 26 February 1908. He was a member of St Martin's Lodge in Castleton (No. 2320) which had its place at Church Inn, Castleton, near Manchester, Lancashire. He resigned in No. 2320 in November 1912 but joined another Lodge of Coronation (No. 3479) in Blackburn. Frank Neville Tolkien belonged to it until at least 1921 and he attended Masonic Hall in Blackburn, Lancashire.

Frank Neville Tolkien, Freemason 1908–1912

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* [Who knows if J. R. R. Tolkien knowing the inclinations of his paternal family didn't want to include a pun, a word play in his first published story to tell "I know..."]

The Tolkien family London addresses – update

I have made an important update in my research concerning the London addresses of the ancestors of J. R. R. Tolkien! The information from my previous article must be a little bit changed. [I use London maps from the 19th century, especially updated Horwood's Plan]

John Benjamin Tolkien (1752, Gdańsk – 1819, London) and his son George Tolkien (1784–1840) lived with their families here (see below; in this house George Tolkien was born; here also his son, John Benjamin Tolkien (1807–1896), J. R. R. Tolkien's grandfather was born!). This house was close to the Spa Fields Chapel where the Countess of Huntingdon Connection, early Calvinistic Methodists prayed. I suppose the Tolkiens belonged to that community (being in fact inclined to the United Brethren):

(1.) Parish of St Andrew's, Holborn, City of London (or St James', Clerkenwell)

According to the funeral record of John Benjamin Tolkien's first English wife, Mary née Warner (belonging to the Countess of Huntingdon Connexion), the couple lived in c. 1780 in the Parish of St Andrew's, Holborn, City. The ancient parish included most of the Holborn area to the west, bordering onto St Giles in the Fields. In 1777 when the couple married they were described as living in the parish of St James', Clerkenwell. Their house could be on the border of both parishes or it was simply Saint John Street as in (4.).

(2.) 77 White Lion Street, Pentonville (or Islington), London

77 White Lion Street where the Tolkien family lived between 1790s and 1820s

The house could look a little bit like these houses from the north side of White Lion St today:

White Lion St today (GoogleMaps)

I am looking for an image of the house at 77 White Lion St. Can you help me?

Added in May 2021

(3.) 25 Bidborough Street (in the parish of St Pancras) is a place where George Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien's great-grandfather) died in 1840:

25 Bidborough Street where George Tolkien died in 1840

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Another thing are the houses where the Tolkiens had their businesses. John Benjamin Tolkien's (1752, Gdańsk – 1819, London) and George Tolkien (1784–1840) had their businesses in the following places (the buildings on the maps are in red frames):

(4.) 49 Saint John's Street, Clerkenwell,
"Gravell & Tolkien, Clock and Watchmakers" (1792–1807)

49 Saint John Street, Clerkenwell according to John Tallis'
street views produced in 1838-1847 - read about it here

(5.) 145 Saint John Street, Clerkenwell (the proprietor was a Maitland and George Beawmont)

"Tolkien & Dancer, Toolmakers" (c. 1807), "George Tolkien, Ironmonger/Toolmaker" (1808–1810), "George Tolkien, Clock and Watchmaker" (1809–1811)

49 St John's Street, 145 St John's Street, Clerkenwell, London

The house with the Tolkiens' workshop at 145 St John's Street looked like this:

145 Saint John Street, Clerkenwell according to John Tallis'
street views produced in 1838-1847 - read about it here

It would be wonderful to find Tallis' image of the house at 49 St John's Street! Can you help me? 

(6.) 111 Guilford Street, J. B. Tolkien, Dealer in China and Glass (1809)

111 Guilford St where John Benjamin Tolkien sold china and glass in 1809

(7.) 21 Skinner Street, Snow Hill, London (1814)

21 Skinner Street – China & Glass Man (J. B. Tolkien & G. Tolkien) [1814]

John Tallis drew this house as follows:

21 Skinner Street – China & Glass Man (J. B. Tolkien & G. Tolkien) [1814]

Globuhnen, Tolkyns and Hussites

It seems to be a very important document in my #TolkienAncestry. It connects Globuhnen, Prussia (place where J. R. R. Tolkien's ancestors lived in the 17th century) with the Tolk(yn) name and with the Hussites (from which the United Brethren a. k. a. Moravians came):

1421 Sept. 23, Nr. 3537. Komtur zu Balga an HM betr. seine Verhandlungen mit den Untertanen wegen der Ausrichtung gegen die Hussiten. Namen der zum Auszug gegen die Hussiten Konsignierten: Herr Hans Sugemyn, Hans Schöfstete, Habart Reyman, Caspar Glabune, Kuntze Tholg u. Frantczke a. d. Gebiete Bartenstein, Peter Powerse u. Brosean Milgedyen a. d. Kammeramte Worien u. Nicklus Gerlach u. Thomas des alten Nicklus v. Sparwyn Sohn a. d. Kammeramt Zinten. Eylau o. J. an Mauritii (LXXa 11)

Caspar Glabune, Kuntze Tholg and Peter Powerse seem to be cousins from the Tolk(yn) family having their goods in Globuhnen (Glabune), Tolks (Tholg) and Powarschen (Powerse). Caspar Glabune/Globune was probably son of Clauko, son of Matthias Tolk von Merklichenrad, the ancestor of all Tolkien family. He was a Landrichter or a county judge like the Tolkiens in the 17th and 18th centuries who were Schulze (their function was being county judges) of Globuhnen.

Books from Tolkien's personal collection at my house!

Can you see the Polish editions on the lower shelf of J.R.R. Tolkien? I had special guests today - the books from this collection, from this picture! In the upcoming Simbelmynë you will be able to read the story of the friendship of Professor Tolkien and Professor Pełczyński and how the books from Tolkien's house came to Silesia. Thanks to Szymon Pindur for this wonderful story and for his special visit at my house!

Four Johns Benjamins: watchmaker, gentleman, music-seller and freemason

From J. R. R. Tolkien's letter to Amy Ronald, 2 January 1969 (Letters, No. 309):

Now, my dear, as to my name. It is John: a name much used and loved by Christians, and since I was born on the Octave of St John the Evangelist, I take him as my patron – though neither my father, nor my mother at that time, would have thought of anything so Romish as giving me a name because it was a saint's. I was called John because it was the custom for the eldest son of the eldest son to be called John in my family. My father was Arthur, eldest of my grandfather John Benjamin's second family; but his elder half-brother John had died leaving only 3 daughters. So John I had to be, and was dandled on the knee of old J. B., as the heir, before he died. (I was only four when he died at 92 in 1896.)

My father favoured John Benjamin Reuel (which I should now have liked); but my mother was confident that I should be a daughter, and being fond of more 'romantic' (& less O[ld] T[estament] like) names decided on Rosalind. When I turned up, prematurely, and a boy though weak and ailing, Ronald was substituted.

The tradition of naming the older (or oldest) sons John Benjamin in every generation began in Gdańsk (see here) thanks to John Benjamin's [I] godfathers, Johann George Rohn, a furrier and Benjamin Sonnenström, a Faßbecher Meister (a kind of lorimer, see here). In England in every generation of the Tolkien descendants of the Gdańsk emigrant, Johann Benjamin Tolkien ([I], 1752–1819) there was one John Benjamin. Let us read about four Johns Benjamins I found in the archives: 
______________________________________________________________________

[I] John (Johann) Benjamin Tolkien (forms: Tollkien, Tollkühn, Tolkin, Tolkien, b. June 1752, Petershagen, Gdańsk/Danzig, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – d. 27 January 1819, London), a lorimer, a clock- and watchmaker (c. 1796–1813), and china and glass-seller (1813–1819). Great-great-grandfather of J. R. R. Tolkien. He was one of four children of Christian Tolkien (born in Kreuzburg in 1706, died in Gdańsk in 1791) and Anna Euphrosina Tolkien, née Bergholtz (1719–1792, Gdańsk), daughter of Ephraim Bergholtz from Petershagen, Gdańsk. He was their second son (his older brother was Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien, a furrier from Cheapside, London). The Tolkiens in Gdańsk were Lutheran Pietists, possibly members of the United Brethren (Herrnhuts). John Benjamin was baptized on 11 June 1752 in St Salvator Lutheran church in Petershagen, Gdańsk (church known as a centre of the Pietist movement in Gdańsk). About 1772 he emigrated to London. In 1777 in St James's church in Clerkenwell he married Mary Warner (1753–1779) from the Proto-Methodist Countess of Huntingdon Connexion. Thanks to this he became an Englishman by the marriage with an English native. John Benjamin and Mary had two daughters: Elisabeth and Anna Maria. Mary died in 1779 (she was buried by Spa Fields Chapel's cemetery). In 1881 in Holy Sepulchre church he married Mary Wall (1746–1837) as a widower. With Mary he had only sons (only two survived their childhood): Benjamin (d. 1787), George (1784–1840, J. R. R. Tolkien's great-grandfather), John Benjamin ([II] 1788–1840) and Henry (died as a child). His family lived at 77 White Lion, Islington, London and he had his workshop at 145 Saint John Street, Clerkenwell, London. In 1792 John Benjamin Tolkien in the age of 40 became the co-owner of the clock- and watchmaker firm which was known as "Gravell & Tolkien". Its address was 49 St John Street, Clerkenwell, London. It belonged earlier to the famous Eardley Norton. In 1808 John Benjamin Tolkien began new business "Tolkien & Dancer Watch-movement & Tool-manufacturer” at 145 Saint John Street, Clerkenwell, London. In May 1813 his older brother died and John Benjamin bankrupted. Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien before his death borrowed him 700 pounds. On 17 July 1813 he received a certificate as china- and glass-seller at St Paul's Churchyard, Covent Garden. John Benjamin Tolkien died on 27 January 1819 and he was buried in February 1819 at Non-Conformist cemetery of Bunhill Fields by City Road. In London he was probably a Lutheran belonging first to Countess of Huntington Connexion (Calvinist Methodist) while his older brother was John Wesley's "Arminian" Methodist.

One document with two Johns Benjamins, I & II. And with the place-name Gdańsk ("Dantzic")

[II] John Benjamin Tolkien Esq. (7 January 1788, Islington, London – 8 September 1859, Clifton, Bristol), a free of the City of London and a loriner (from 1813), a gentleman (esquire), a clerk in Norwich Union (from abt. 1818), a Major of Navy (1832?), a supporter of the Missionary Society and the missions of the United Brethren (Moravians, Herrnhuts) in Bristol. He was third son of John Benjamin Tolkien [I] and Mary Tolkien, née Wall. He was baptized on 27 January 1788 at St James's, Clerkenwell. In February 1813 he was "admited into the freedom of this City by redemption in the Company of Loriners" (he was apprentice in his father's workshop). Thanks to this he became free citizen with priviledges. After his father's death in 1819 he married Elisabeth Frances Carter at St Mary, Newington, Southwark, London. He worked as a Chief Clerk for London Life Department of Norwich Union (at least from 1818). In 1820-1824 he was called a gentleman and a freeholder. The couple lived at 12 Church Row, Newington, Southwark. Elisabeth died in 1822 after their only son John Carter Barlow Tolkien died in 1821, and in 1827 John Benjamin married Elisabeth Oxley as a widower (1803–1890). The wedding took place at St Giles, Camberwell, Southwark. The couple had one daughter, Elisabeth Oxley Tolkien (1828–1901). The Tolkien family lived in Bristol, in Clifton at 5 Lansdown Place. In the 1850s John Benjamin Tolkien was a supporter of the United Brethren community (about Moravian Brothers or Herrnhuts or United Brethren you can read here). He and his wife Mrs. Tolkien were mentioned in the Periodical accounts relating to the missions of the Church of the United Brethren established among the heathen, v. 20 (1851/1853), v. 21 (1853/1856), v. 22. (1856/1858), v. 23 (1858/1861), v. 24 (1861/1863) v. 25 (1863/1866), v. 26 (1866/1868), v. 28 (1871/1873). He probably attended the services at the Brethren Chapel of the congregation of the United Brethren Church in Bristol with his daughter, Miss Elisabeth Tolkien. John Benjamin Tolkien was also mentioned in Missions to Seamen. Report for 1857-8. John Benjamin Tolkien died in the age of 71 on 8 September 1859 at 8 Bedford Square in the Palace District of Brighton. He was buried on 14 September 1859 at St Andrew's cemetery, Clifton, Bristol.

John Benjamin Tolkien Esq. from Bristol as a supporter of the Moravian Brothers

[III] John Benjamin Tolkien (27 March 1807, London – 1896, Birmingham, for detailed account see here),  a tuner, a music seller, a composer, a philantropist in Birmingham, a brother of a music seller and Freemason, Henry Tolkien and father of a Freemason, John Benjamin Tolkien [IV]. He was one of thirteen children of George Tolkien (1784–1840) and Eliza Lydia, née Murrell (1787–1863), and their second son. When he was born on 27 March 1807, his father, George, was 22 and his mother, Eliza, was 20. John Benjamin was their second child and second son. He was baptized at St James's, Clerkenwell, London on 29 April 1807.  He received his names after the grandfather from Gdańsk and London, Johann/John Benjamin Tolkien (1752–1819, see here). He was married three times and had seven sons and eight daughters. In 1849 he was described as a music seller and lived already in Birmingham, in the parish of Aston, in Portland Villa. The family had even a "maid of all work", Maria Swinbourne. Then the family moved. In the same year 1849 we meet John Benjamin Tolkien as a professor of music at Bristol Road, Hemlingford, Edgbaston. John Benjamin's wife, Jane, died in 1854. As a widower and music seller from Handsworth, Birmingham, in the age of 48, John Benjamin married Mary Jane Stowe (1833–1915, daughter of John Sutcliffe Stowe, a commision agent from Grosvenor Place, Birmingham, of predobaptist or independent denomination). The wedding ceremony took place in the parish church of All Saints in Birmingham on 16 February 1856. His first son from Mary Jane Tolkien was Arthur Reuel, J. R. R. Tolkien's father. Before 1871 the family moved to 2 Heathfield Rd, King's Norton, Worcestershire and before 1881 to Alcester Rd, Kings Norton. There they had a house servant, Ann Hough and house maid, Phebe Powel. It is good to know that third wife of John Benjamin Tolkien, Mary Jane was only three years older than his oldest daughter, Emily! In the census of 1881 J. B. Tolkien is described as a "Piano Fort & Prussia Dealer", in 1891 as a "pianoforte tuner". In 1891 John Benjamin Tolkien lived in his son-in-low's house of Henry Holden's house, his daughter Loisa's husband. His last address was Bell Lane, Erdington, Aston, Warwickshire (close to Birmingham). After his son Arthur Reuel died in 1896 he also died of sorrow in his age of 89 in King's Norton on 1 August 1896 and was buried at the Key Hill Cemetery, Birmingham. His grave still exists.  

[IV] John Benjamin Tolkien (January 1845, Birmingham – October 1883), a music dealer in Birmingham, a tuner, a newspaper reporter and a composer. He was a half-brother of Arthur Reuel Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien's father. He married Agnes Marion Tyrrell on 24 December 1865 in Southwark, Surrey. Contrary to the words of J. R. R. Tolkien they had one child during their marriage, Beatrice Tolkien. He died in October 1883 in Camberwell at the age of 38. From 21 March 1871 to 1881 he was a member (Senior Warden) of the Lodge of Perseverance (No. 573) in Halesowen, Worcester. He composed a masonic hymn "United Ever".

England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1925

Honours: my first printed article on #TolkienAncestry

I have recently published two articles on my #TolkienAncestry research and discoveries. One of them, "Z Prus do Anglii. Saga rodziny J. R. R. Tolkiena (XIV–XIX wiek" can be found here and here – in a scientific magazine Creatio Fantastica #2 (57), Krakow.

The second one in the printed version was published in the scientific magazine from the Warsaw University, Przegląd Środkowo-Wschodni #3/2018. Its title is "O gdańskich korzeniach J. R. R. Tolkiena":

Thanks to such publications my book becomes more and more real (in fact I am just writing it!).

Honours: Tolkien Society Award nomination!

This year my TOLKNIĘTY blog was nominated for the Tolkien Society Award! I am very very grateful for the nomination and for the votes of the Tolkien Society members! In spite I have not been a winner, it was a great honour for me to compete with Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond's blog (the 2018 Winner). For details see here.

Eglerio!

John Benjamin Tolkien, "a Native of Danztic" (1813)

What a find! In the London Metropolitan Archives I have found a document where John Benjamin Tolkien (1752–1819) is presented as "a Native of Dantzic"! This is the first document from London in my collection where J. R. R. Tolkien's great-great-grandfather is described as a person coming to England from Poland! The document comes from April 1813 and is a petition of John Benjamin Tolkien (1788–1859), son of John Benjamin Tolkien (1752–1819) to be admited to the Freedom of this City [of London]. The only problem is that in this document John Benjamin, the father, "came to England about the year 1752 when he married a Native of this Country and has resided here ever since and where your Petitioner was born".

We know that John Banjamin Tolkien came to England after 1770 (where his older brother Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien came to London from Danzig via Amsterdam) and that he married a native of England Mary Warner in 1777 (see my text about John Benjamin Tolkien here). Maybe his son wanted to have deeper English ancestry and his "about 1752" meant the same as "about 1770"?

Source: Ancestry.com. London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Freedom admissions papers, 1681 – 1930. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. COL/CHD/FR/02. London Metropolitan Archives

Major Tolkien, a hero of 1832

In The Sporting Magazine (November 1831, vol IV, no. XIX, p. 57, see here) we can read about the meeting of the Royal Sailing Society. During the meeting the Secretary of the Society proposed to enrol the name of a Major Tolkien among the Honorary Members of this Institution. "He therefore proposed that Major Tolkien, Mayor of Teignmouth who had saved the crew of a French brig bound from Bordeaux to Dunkirk when in imminent danger of perishing should become an Honorary Member of the Society". See full text:

 

Who was this Major Tolkien from Devon? I suppose he could be John Benjamin Tolkien (1788–1840), one of the sons of John Benjamin Tolkien (1752–1819). I must check it very carefully. And I will try to write about all four Johns Benjamins Tolkiens from J.R.R. Tolkien's line.

tolke means 'man, knight'! Sir Gawain and the Tolk Knight

By John Howe

See: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ed. Tolkien-Gordon, Davis 1925, 1967)

1775 and be traytor to þat tolke þat þat telde a₃t

1811 iche tolke mon do as he is tan tas to non ille

1966 and ₃e me take sum tolke to teche as ₃e hy₃t

According to J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon the Middle English tolke means 'man, knight'. What is interesting this Middle English word (N. form tulk) is a loan-word from Old Norse and ultimately from Old East Slavic тълкъ (tŭlkŭ) 'interpreter', and this from Proto-Slavic *tъlkъ 'sense, interpretation'. This word is akin to Finnish tulkki

And the readers of my blog know already that J. R. R. Tolkien's family name has the same etymology. Tolkien comes from Old Prussian Tolk-in, 'a descendant of Tolk', while tolk means 'translator, negotiator'. Very distant ancestor of J. R. R. Tolkien was probably Clauko Tolkien, son of Matthis Tolk von Markelingerode. Clauco is an Old Prussian (Baltic) name. See the newest version of the oldest part of the Tolkien Family Tree:

American Tolkiens James Kenneth Tolkien (1881–1925)

The Tolkiens were like the Tooks. I can tell a lot about their migrations from Prussia to Poland, then to England, Canada, the USA, etc. 

This young man on the left was an American painter (and by the way a poet). His name was James Kenneth Tolkien. His verses were quite similar to J. R. R. Tolkien's poetry. You can read some of them on the blog of my friend, Jason Fisher (see "Seldom-read early poetry by Tolkien").

One of Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien(*)'s sons was James Tolkien (1800, London – 1855, Ontario, Canada). James like other members of his Methodist family emigrated to Canada where the Tolkiens were evangelists. He and his Canadian wife had three children: Daniel Witherspoon Tolkien, Frances Ann Cuthbert and Charles C. Tolkien. Daniel Witherspoon Tolkien (1846, Ontario – 1925, Buffalo Ward, NY, USA) had seven children with his wife Mary Lucinda, née Shurtlef. One of their sons was James Kenneth Tolkien (1881, Ontario, Canada – 1925, Los Angeles, USA). He arrived in the USA in 1904 and he lived first James Kenneth Tolkien lived in Erie, New York (1920) and then in Inglewood, California. He had only one child with his wife Julia K. Tolkien – Carl E. Tolkien (1909, New York – 1987, Los Angeles).

There are many interesting members of the big Tolkien family (another interesting person was Professor Johannes Tolkiehn from Koenigsberg, a distant cousin of J. R. R. Tolkien)

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(*) Daniel Gottlieb Tolkien (1746, Gdańsk/Danzig – 1813, London) was a brother of Joh(an)n Benjamin Tolkien (1752, Gdańsk/Danzig – 1819, London). J. B. T. was J. R. R. Tolkien's great-great-grandfather. The Tolkiens from Gdańsk/Danzig were descendants of the Tolkiens from Kreuzburg, Prussia and the Tolkiens were descendants of the Tolkyns from Middle-Ages, a noble family of the German-Prussian knights.

Tolkyn's seal from the 15th century found!

Yesterday evening I have found something absolutely wonderful! This is the seal of the Tolkyn/Tolkien noble family from the fifteenth century Prussia! I have already written a lot about the coat-of-arms of the noble ancestors of J. R. R. Tolkien (see here, here and here). Now you can see how it looked on the seal attached to the documents (the drawings and text come from Mitteilungen des Coppernicus-Vereins für Wissenschaft und Kunst zu Thorn. H. 10, Engel Bernhard, "Die mittelalterlichen Siegel des Thorner Rathsarchivs, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Ordenslandes. Tl. 2: Privatsiegel", Kommissions-Verlag von E. Lambeck, Thorn 1895; see here).

This seal is attatched to this document by Peter Tolkyn, a brave anti-Teutonic Order Prussian knight:

As you remember, Nicholaus Copernicus collegue, Bishop Fabian von Lossainen (Luzjański) was also a member of the same noble family (read here) with the same coat-of-arms. And we find his seal in the same book too:

The sign of the Prussian Tolkiens (and also their ancestors, the Markelingerode family) are pike jawbones. By accident the kantele instrument of Väinämöinen from so beloved by Tolkien Kalevala was also made of pike jawbones ("Väinämöinen also slays a great pike and makes a magical kantele from its jawbones")!

"Fanatycy" z Peterszawy (Zaroślaka) Tolkienowie jako herrnhuci?

Czytam teraz bardzo ciekawą książkę Eduarda Schnaase, Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche Danzigs actenmässig Dargestellt (Theodor Bertling, Danzig 1863; patrz tutaj). Mamy tam całą historię i specyfikę protestantyzmu w Gdańsku, także w czasach, gdy mieszkali w nim z rodzinami krzyżborscy bracia Michael i Christian Tolkienowie. Książka pozwala zrozumieć ferment religijny, w którym wychowywali się przyszli imigranci do Anglii – synowie Christiana, Daniel Gottlieb oraz Johann Banjamin Tolkienowie. Okazuje się, że Petershagen (Peterszawa/Zaroślak) i jego zbór St Salvator (Zbawiciela) były ostoją najbardziej zaangażowanych religijnie gdańszczan, gniazdem najbardziej gorliwych luterańskich i reformowanych pietystów. Środowisko skupione w XVIII wieku wokół kościoła St Salvator, gdzie chrzczeni byli "Londyńscy Bracia" i gdzie pochowano ich rodziców, nazywane było przez stateczne luterańskie władze kościelne w Gdańsku "fanatykami"!

Hrabia Zinzendorf, pietysta, który odnowił Jednotę Braterską
(Braci Morawskich, herrnhutów)

Już w początku XVIII wieku na gdańskim przedmieściu gorliwi pietyści gdańscy krzewili pobożność osobistą, której przejawem były prywatne, domowe konwentykle, kontestacja religijności zinstytucjonalizowanej, religijne sekciarstwo i nowinkarstwo. Wywoływało to niepokój Ministerium Duchownego (najwyższej władzy duchownej gdańskich luteran).

Już 10 września 1717 M. Hoppe, diakon w St Katharinen (kościele św. Katarzyny, gdzie chowano m.in. zmarłych członków cechu kuśnierzy) zeznawał, że "fanatycy" (czyli gorliwi pietyści) zamieszkują na Starym Mieście, że kontestują oficjalny luteranizm, rzadko chodzą do kościoła, a raczej praktykują swoje conventicula. Mnożą się donosy do Rady Miejskiej na domorosłych kaznodziejów. Gorliwi pietyści ("fanatycy") mieszkali też w Schidlitz, Stolzenberg i Petershagen. Książka wymienia w czasach Tolkienów m.in. pończosznika Johanna Carla Gerlacha, panią Krausch ze wspólnoty reformowanej (kalwińskiej) czy adwokata Salomona Bacha. Ciekawy jest ten passus z 1747, gdy Christian i Euphrosina Tolkienowie mieszkali jeszcze na Bischofsberg (Biskupiej Górce), a ich najstarszy syn ochrzczony został w kościele St Salvator:

Starszy (Senior) Dr. Carl Joachim Sibeth 7 kwietnia 1747 zeznaje na Konwencie, że Johann Christoph Schröder, kaznodzieja w St Salvator [jego żona, Eleonora Schröder była chrzestną prapradziadka Profesora Tolkiena, Johanna Benjamina w 1752!], miał w parafii "separatystów i ich conventicula, przeciwko którym panowie ministeriałowie ostatnio publicznie ostrzegali wspólnotę chrześcijańską". Schröder w kazaniu w niedzielę Oculi bronił tych ludzi, "był ich apologetą".

Proboszcza Schrödera przesłuchiwano jeszcze 5 maja 1747. Świadkiem był pastor z tego samego kościoła, wielebny Johann Gottlieb Pfennigk (nie słyszał osobiście kazania, które wspierało pietystów/herrnhutów, ale dowiedział się o nim od innych. Został pouczony, żeby porozmawiać z kolegą, pastorem Schröderem na ten temat).

APG 358,24, St Salvator Kirchbuch 1747-1776.
Widać tam pastorów Schroedera i Pfennigka

Rok później Ministerium Duchowne musiało zmierzyć się z podobną sprawą. Chodzi o proboszcza luterańskiego kościoła St Barbara (św. Barbary) na Langgarten (Długich Ogrodach), wielebnego Petera Tancka. Musiał zeznać na temat swoich słów z pewnego kazania, że "po mieście wędruje duch plotki o pietyzmie" i "odbywają się prywatne spotkania". Tanck potwierdził obie wypowiedzi i zeznał, że sekciarzami w mieście są: Klefeldt, "zbłądzony kaznodzieja, a teraz nauczyciel w pewnej knajpie i pewien szczotkarz Rüdiger z Damm (Grobli) i nastawiacz kości Wagner oraz piekarz Gammelkorn z Niederstadt (Dolnego Miasta) z Alamodengasse". Dodał też, że diakon w kościele St Johannis (św. Jana), Paul Swietlicks organizował "godzinki z Katechizmem" w formie "prywatnych konwentykli", na które przychodziły nie tylko dzieci, ale też dorośli – i to także spoza parafii.  Omawiano tam nie tylko Katechizm Lutra, ale też pismo Heilsordnung opublikowane przez samego Swietlicksa (Swietlickiego).

Do duchowej atmosfery, która zapanowała w Gdańsku, przyczynił się przyjazd do miasta 23 lutego 1744 odnowiciela Jednoty Braterskiej (Braci Morawskich, herrnhutów, Unitas Fratrum – patrz tutaj), hrabiego Nicolausa Ludwiga von Zinzendorfa (ur. 26 maja 1700 w Dreźnie, zm. 9 maja 1760 w Herrnhut), niemieckiego teologa ewangelickiego i reformatora religijnego, przywódcę ruchu pietystycznego w Saksonii.Gdy Zinzendorf w drodze z Królewca pojawił się w Gdańsku, Rada Miasta w trosce o czystość gdańskiego luteranizmu, przeciwna zbieraniu się w mieście sekciarskich "konwentykli", nie pozwoliła mu na dłuższy pobyt. A jednak grupa herrnhutów zawiązała się w Gdańsku. Dnia 13 kwietnia 1789 Michael Gottfried Martens i Johann Friedrich de le Roy z Gdańska zgłosili się w centrali Braci Morawskich w Herrnhut jako przedstawiciele "Danziger Brüdergemeine". W swoim liście informowali, że gdańska wspólnota miała już co najmniej dziesięć lat (powstałaby zatem w okolicach 1779?) i liczyła 50 osób, które organizowały herrnhuckie konwentykle.  Do tej wspólnoty należeć miała m.in. matka słynnego oświeceniowego myśliciela Johannesa Daniela Falka oraz jego ciotka, Anna Martens (prawdopodobnie jej drugim mężem był wspomniany Michael Gottfried Martens). Anna Martens mieszkała przy Heiligen-Geistgasse (ul. Świętego Ducha) i zajmowała się handlem "tkaninami i wyrobami angielskimi". To przesłanka, że gdańscy herrnhuci mieli do czynienia z braćmi w Anglii. A takimi braćmi herrnhutów byli w Londynie członkowie wspólnoty wczesnometodystycznej. Anna Martens była ponadto członkinią Kościoła Morawskiego i "bardzo bogobojną kobietą". W podobny sposób The Methodist Magazine z 1813 opisywał gdańskich rodziców Daniela i Johna Benjamina, członków wspólnot Wesleya i hrabiny: "DANIEL G. TOLKIEN (....) urodził się w Gdańsku w lipcu 1746 roku jako syn poważanych i religijnych rodziców".

Pisałem też już (tutaj) o panu Johannie Gottfriedzie Ehwaldzie (Ehwalt lub Ehwald), który urodził się w 1717 w Elblągu, a zmarł w 1786 w Gdańsku i był proboszczem kościoła Zbawiciela na Zaroślaku, a w samym gdańsku pełnił też inne zaszczytne funkcje. Był orientalistą, absolwentem teologii na uniwersytecie w Jenie. Od 1742 roku uczył w Gdańsku prywatnie języków orientalnych, a od 1745 był rektorem szkoły św. Jana (blisko domu Michaela Tolkiena). Od 1761 do śmierci był diakonem kościoła Zbawiciela na Zaroślaku. Poza orientalistyką zajmował się naukowo greką i historią religii. Publikował teksty naukowe, m.in. w „Theologische Bibliothek” i w gdańskim tygodniku „Der Teutsche Diogenes”. Był też chrzestnym dzieci Michaela oraz Christiana Tolkienów (a jedno z jego dzieci jako chrzestną miało starszą córkę Christiana Tolkiena!). Wspólnie z rektorem szkoły mariackiej, Bernhardem Ludolphem Kemną pracował nad reformą gdańskiego szkolnictwa, którą chciało wprowadzić miejskie  Kolegium Szkolne. Przygotowali wytyczne programu nauczania i nową organizację szkolnictwa, według której gdańskie szkoły parafialne miały mieć jednolity program nauczania, taką samą metodę dydaktyczną i siatkę przedmiotów lekcyjnych. Reforma, za sprawą Rady Miejskiej, weszła w życie tylko częściowo (źródło: Gedanopedia). Wśród książek, które pozostawił po sobie Ehwald jest jedna szczególnie ciekawa, bo ukazuje jego zainteresowanie nauczaniem Braci Morawskich i możliwością pojednania tego nauczania z wyznawanym przez Ehwalda luteranizmem. Chodzi o pracę z 1756 pt. Die Alte und Neue Lehre der Böhmischen und Mährischen Brüder: wie solche von den Aeltesten der Brüdergemeinde von dem Johann Huß, Johann Gyrck, Johann Amos Comenius, Andreas Macher und Johann Gottlieb Elsner, in unterschiedenen Lehrbüchern böhmisch, lateinisch und... (patrz Google Books). Wedle pewnej XVIII-wiecznej recenzji mistrz Ehwald "podjął godną pochwały decyzję zbierając tu dokumenty na temat Braci Morawskich, aby poczynić świadomy osąd, czy wspólnota może być nazwana reformacyjną (...)".

Mamy coraz więcej herrnhuckich tropów w dziejach gdańskich Tolkienów!